Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran today questioned the practice ofallowing the Armed Forces of the Philippines to conduct lobbying in the Houseof Representatives. This he floated in the wake of the reports another Garciais involved in corruption schemes, this time involving the Armed Forces of thePhilippines (AFP) and certain unnamed legislators. Beltran expressed agreementwith reports that full-blown Congressional investigations should be made intothe records and dealings of Maj.Gen. Carlos Garcia , a former AFP comptrollernow facing investigations for alleged unexplained wealth running millions ofpesos. He said that by investigatring Garcia, a paper trail could beestablished that will lead to his unknown bosses.

"Without debate, lobbying especially when done by cause oriented groups andpeople's organizations is legal and aboveboard; but given the fact thateffective, thorough and shall we say convincing lobbying can only take placewith the use of a lot of cold, hard cash makes the practice odious. If the AFPalready has millions to spread around in pursuit of its various legislative ormilitary agenda, then that's one more reason why the budget for defense shouldbe slashed," he said.

Beltran said that it came as an unpleasant surprise that the AFP still conductsits own lobbying campaign. "The AFP already has reliable spokespersons inCongress who support its legislative agenda and even defend the variousatrocities committed by the AFP against civilians in the conduct of itsoperations in the provinces. The AFP lobby is clearly to further jack thebudget for the AFP and ensure smooth and swift approval for the variousappointees it's pushing for various positions. Who the solons the AFP approachshould also be made known - the so-called AFP patrons," he said.

The veteran labor leader turned legislator said that there was clearly a lot ofunexplained wealth floating around, changing hands in the higher offices of themilitary and civilian bureauracy. He also said the explanation that Garcia'stask to handle money as 'lobby fund' to convince senators and congressmen toapprove certain contracts or appointments was legal was 'unconscionable.'

Beltran said that the accusations against Garcia were serious and if the truthferreted out, could well rock the AFP and even Congress to their veryfoundations. "Yet another mystery man who seems to be running major errandsfor very powerful and influential people who are in the military and thelegislative branch. Garcia should be made to give his full testimony and theinvestigations not left hanging unresolved. We're talking about millions ofpesos here, and as to how he managed to get his hands on such wealth is highlyintriguing. Who is he running errands for and what exactly are his functionsfor his as-yet-unknown bosses?," he said.

Malacanang in the dark?

He also said that the expose regarding Garcia and the revelations made byretired Navy Commodore Rex Robles that US authorities were investigating twogenerals and three Cabinet-Level officials apart from Garcia for supposedlymaintaining massive bank accounts in the US should be investigated to the last.He called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Pres. GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo herself to demand reports from the appropriate US authoritiesregarding the unnamed Filipino military and cabinet officials beinginvestigated for unexplained wealth.

"Since there is the illusion that the US treats the Philippines as a closefriend and ally, then it should only be expected that the US authoritieswould have already made it known to Malacanang and the AFP who these officialsare. Otherwise, Malacanang should speak out against being kept in the dark oversuch a shocking and controversial issue," he said.#